Race and Ethnicity in the History of the Americas: A Filmic Approach. Film Series No. 4.

Cortes, Carlos E.; Campbell, Leon G.

This publication is the product of a college course which focused on the general concept of race and ethnicity in films from a cross-national comparative perspective. The authors hope that the booklet will be useful to teachers who present courses on film and history, for those who use film in their general history courses, and for those who teach courses on comparative race and ethnicity. Students analyze films focusing on the historical experiences of Blacks, American Indians, and white ethnics in the United States and Latin America. These films provided examples of how filmmakers in the two areas viewed their nations' experiences including ethnic groups and interethnic relations. In addition the students learned how to analyze films as historical evidence and how to utilize and evaluate this evidence. Books and lectures provided students with historical background about the countries and themes. The booklet contains an introductory essay on the development of the authors' film and history pedagogy, issues in teaching about race and ethnicity, the structure of the course and the strengths and weaknesses of student film analyses. The bulk of the booklet contains fourteen student film analyses that were written during the course. (Author/RM)